Stella Stone
by bigbangsvip99
Summary: Stella Stone isn't your average pokémon trainer. She's Steven Stone's daughter, and she has to live up to the continuing expectations of her family, and the entire Hoenn region.
1. Chapter 1

Stella brushed her silver hair one more time before going to bed. She couldn't help but stare at the silver moon and wonder where her parents were sending her. The brush made a soft clanging sound as it hit her granite boudoir table, and the lights in her room were out.

"Stella, wake up. Your flight is in three hours" Stella's mother, Sandie, was wearing her usual archeologist gear and trademark tan. She looked ready to start her day.

"Couple more hours Mother" Stella muttered.

"Baltoy, please wake her up" Stella turned to her loyal Pokémon, baltoy.

Baltoy began to spin creating a gust of strong wind, nearly ripping Stella from her comfortable bed.

In a few moments, Stella was up and ready, her sandshrew, beldum, and lileep at her side. They were eating breakfast quickly as to not receive another wind attack from baltoy.

Steven walked into the dining room. He was tall and handsome with silver hair, just like Stella's. He wore a purple and black suit that matched the serious expression in his eyes. He carried a basket full of evolutionary rocks and he walked with a purpose towards the dining table.

"Good morning Stella!" he greeted his daughter with enthusiasm. "You will be pleased to know that the school you are going to is where your grandfather lives, so you will be able to live at your grandparent's house all year."

"WHAT?" Stella jumped at the news, startling her Pokémon. "Father, Rustboro is a giant city! Any move I make will be detected by the media and I'll ruin everything"

Before her parents could say anything, Stella ran as fast as she could out of the house. For as long as Stella could remember, Mossdeep had been her safe haven. A small island where everybody knew everybody, and the name Steven Stone was just a name. It was a place where the Devon Corporation could not reach, and extend its grip on trainers and their Pokémon. Every time she had visited her grandparents, she had brought shame to the Devon Corporation, and to her father's name. No matter how great the trainer's school was at Rustboro, she simply could not afford to go there. The paparazzi would be everywhere, and the students at school would try to befriend her on basis of popularity. Lost in her perplexing thoughts she did not notice as sandshrew ran off towards the gym.

"Sandshrew! How many times have I told you not to run off? Beldum and lileep don't do it" But sandshrew would not listen. Surely Liza and Tate would find sandshrew an annoyance, and wish for Stella to leave the island as well.

"Gotcha!" Stella exclaimed once they were in the gym. She was about to lecture sandshrew, when Liz and Tate stepped out of the shadows.

"Sorry to be a bother, you must be having guests waiting to battle you"

The leaders laughed, and pulled her over to the waiting area of the gym.

"Stel- it's way too early for gym battles!" Liz exclaimed.

"We just wanted to see you off, so we asked sandshrew if he could bring you over here any time you weren't preparing to leave" Tate smiled. His smile always worked wonders on Stella. It made her heart melt, and her worries disappear for that single moment in which she had captured the light of his smile.

Sandshrew looked up innocently at Stella, who returned his look with pursed lips and squinted eyes.

"Well that's really nice of you, but I'm afraid I just can't leave this island" Stella said stubbornly.

"Stella. Don't say that! Besides we'll hook you up with Roxanne. She's-" Liz started the sentence

"Our senior and she's really good at battling. But you already know that she's the gym leader of Rustboro." Tate finished Liz's sentence as if it were one coherent sentence delivered by the same person.

The trio talked for several minutes more, before Liz excused herself for a chore.

As fast as lightning, Tate turned to Stella, his smile wiped clean off his face.

"While you're in Rustboro, don't forget me okay?" His eyes were grave and questioning.

How could Stella forget her first love? The kiss they shared under the meteorite shower near the space station? His smile?

"Tate! What are you talking about? Of course I could never forget you!" Stella smiled to assure him, yet something in the back of her mind was telling her it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

They shared a last kiss before Stella dismissed herself, admitting defeat to her parents' will.

"Say bye to Liza for me" Stella waved goodbye to Tate with an empty feeling in her heart.

…

Soon Stella was in Rustboro, surrounded by the flashes of the paparazzi cameras. She had returned her Pokémon to their pokeballs for fear they could get hurt. Gruff looking security guards escorted her from the private jet to the Devon Corporation building.

"Stella Sapphire Stone!" a happy voice rose from Grandmother Mari's throat.

Her grandmother was dressed in an elegant lilac colored dress with white lace around the neck line. Mari's eyes were grey and unforgiving. Her hair, which had once been a luxurious blonde, was turning to a white as pure as that of a dewgong's fur. Of course, in order to complement the harshness and cold in her eyes, her hair was wrapped in a tight, strict bun. She wore dainty white lace gloves, and was never seen anywhere without her delcatty and her flaaffy.

"Stella! Welcome back" Stella's grandfather, Devon Stone, greeted her. His eyes were a light blue, faded with age, surrounded by wrinkles made from too much smiling. He wore a suit, and resembled Wattson from Mauville. His smile was grand, and it was the only thing about him that had not changed since the day he cracked his first smile.

"It's good to see you again my beloved grandparents" Stella bowed courteously as Hoenn tradition required. Stella tried to deliver the words with as much warmth as she could, but her steel grey eyes showed her vacancy and sadness.

"Come, before we show you the school, we must re-acquaint you with Rustboro, as you were only ten years old in you last visit" Mr. Stone laughed good naturedly. Mari, however, was not amused. It seemed she remembered the events that had gone down four years ago, nearly destroying Devon Corp's reputation.

"While you're here darling, I will be making sure you get a proper Hoenn woman education, aside from your academics. Something your mother has failed to teach you" Mari said stiffly. Mari loved Stella, but absolutely despised Sandie. She thought Sandie was a poor, lowly archeologist who had used sorcery to make Steven fall in love with her. She viewed Sandie as a gold digger, on top of being an artifact digger. Mari hated that Sandie had not taken the time to gift Stella of proper Hoenn education, full of traditions and ways to live, and such things as arranged marriages.

Stella had always been glad her mother did not believe in these things, because Stella had a free will that would not be bended by the commonality of tradition.

…

The flow of paparazzi had gone and ebbed away, as they were all sheltered and writing their juicy findings for tomorrow's columns. and Stella were taking a rather peaceful tour of Rustboro. They first went to the Pokémon center, to register Stella. They then visited the city bridge, the outside of the famous trainer school, and lastly the gym. Stella remembered reading about the Rustboro gym in her middle school on Mossdeep island. She also remembered Liza and Tate talking about Roxanne being their senior. In Hoenn, juniors had to respect their seniors at all costs, and Stella trusted that Roxanne was probably an awesome senior to Liza and Tate because they talked about her so fondly.

"Can we enter the gym, grandfather?" Stella asked.

"Hmm. Leader Roxanne might be busy with challengers" said without giving much thought to it.

It had startled Stella that he had used the word 'challenger' and not 'guest'. How many more regional changes were there? Would they all be as petty as this one? Stella was afraid she'd make another mistake that would blow up in her face.

"We can go in if you'd like. I'm sure you're bound to challenge her anyways. She's a big part of your school you know." Her grandfather let go of her hand, motioning her to go inside.

Roxanne was beautiful. Her beauty stunned, for a rock type trainer, and Stella felt slightly insecure. Was this why Tate was so fond of her? After all, Roxanne was only two years older that him.

"Hi. You must be Stella Stone. It's truly nice to meet you. You see, I'm a great fan of your parents'" Roxanne smiled and nodded her head slightly.

"It's an honor to meet you, Leader" Stella bowed.

"Please, call me Roxanne. I'm sure Liza and Tate have told you as much about me as they have told me about you." Another one of those charming smiles. Could it have captured Tate's heart?

"I'm sure" Stella smiled back, trying not to look frazzled.

"So how about a battle?"

"What?"

"You heard me, two on two?" Roxanne smiled with killer confidence.

"But, I…I have to go…can we battle some other time? I'd really love to!"Stella answered, not sure about how Roxanne would take it.

"Fine. I have a challenger at seven anyways. We may not have made it." Roxanne pursed her lips slightly in disappointment.

Stella walked out of the gym, and ran straight for the Corporation building.

"Come on out sandshrew!" Stella let out sandshrew and hugged him. "That was a close one. But I'm going to have to train you and the others really hard so we can beat Roxanne. I'm thinking I'm going to focus on beldum, a steel type, to defeat rock." Sandshrew nodded and high fived Stella. Together they ran up the stairs to find a map of Rustboro's surroundings.

"Where do you think you're going young lady?" Mari's voice followed Stella up the flight of stairs.

"Training?" Stella asked in the emptiness.

"Oh no dear, school starts tomorrow, better get ready" Mari heels smacked the wooden floor with echoes of dread filling Stella.

…

Stella _thought_ she was going to like the school, until she discovered the uniform. She learned that the Rustboro School of Young Learners was not the only one of its kind. It had sister schools in Ecreuteak, Jubilife, and Striaton. They were all owned by a rich billionaire who owed his success to education, and thus formed schools in almost every region. Every school had a color, Ecreuteak was purple, Jubilife was red, and Striaton was blue. Rustboro was an ugly brown. Stella looked for people at the school whom she might know; sons and daughters of rich or successful people, even Roxanne.

"Excuse me" Stella turned around and was startled. It was Roxanne.

"Hi" Stella said.

"I see you're wearing the freshman uniform" Roxanne said without a hint of maliciousness in her voice.

"Oh…"Stella noticed that junior and senior girls were wearing cute blue dresses with pink stockings, just like Roxanne. "I guess I am"

"Don't worry. I only changed things last year, after I became gym leader. I couldn't change freshman or sophomore dress, but Mr. Yakuki let me change junior and senior outfits." Stella had no idea who Mr. Yakuki was, but she was guessing he was the man who owned the schools.

"Come on, I'll show you around" Roxanne led Stella out of the group of incoming freshmen, and towards the school's courtyard.

The courtyard was beautiful. It had a grassy area full of perfectly round hedges, and smooth picnic tables perfect for lunch time. The crystal of the school's bay windows reflected in the whole courtyard, giving it a romantic feel. Stella swayed to the slight breeze, taking in the beautiful sight.

"Roxy! Whaddup!" someone whooped behind the girls.

"Brawly! What in the world are you doing here? Don't you have challengers?" Roxanne hissed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Stella Stone

Brawly made his way over to Roxanne. Stella watched as this teenage guy with blue hair and toned arms picked up Roxanne and hugged her tightly.

"Hey, looks like we're in homeroom together" Brawly winked at Roxanne. Roxanne rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Hey. This is Stella, guess who she is!" Roxanne clasped her pretty little hands together in excitement.

Stella looked uneasily up into Brawly's grey-ish blue eyes. She hoped he wouldn't recognize her, but deep inside she knew he would.

"HA! I sure do! It's little Stella! Hey, Stoney's brought her 'round to Dewford several times to pick up some rocks. 'Course I was still little, but I don't think I could ever forget those silver eyes. Nope." Brawly laughed boisterously. It echoed through the court yard, and even brought curious on lookers who were pressed up against the bay window, trying to see what could be happening between these three famous forces of nature.

Well, forces of nature was an exaggeration, but they sure were famous. And the whole Hoenn region loved to talk about them, as well as the other gym leaders, the elite four, and Steven Stone.

"Well so you know each other. Great" Stella sensed some bitterness in Roxanne's voice, but dared not to read too much into it. "Listen, Stella, you should go to your homeroom because class is going to start soon."

Stella did as she was told, all while not breaking eye contact with Brawly. It was bad news that he would be attending the same school she was. Why did life love to throw random obstacles at her? The last time she had seen Brawly was six weeks ago, something Brawly hadn't mentioned to Roxanne.

"To tell you the truth, I'm quite captivated by fighting types. I was wondering if I could have a talk with you…Brawly?" Stella needed to get him alone.

"Be late if you want to" Roxanne taunted.

…

"We only have five minutes so hurry. I'm trying to be a good student this year" Brawly said to Stella. The smile he had on earlier was completely gone.

"Brawly, when I'm here…just pretend I'm not. I don't know if you still-" Stella suddenly jumped.

"Um, could you tell me where room 305 is?" a short girl with mousy brown hair and the greenest eyes shyly asked the duo. The girl smelled like roses and freshly cut grass. She was short and her school uniform seemed kind of big on her.

"Yeah, it's the next wing over. Don't worry, teachers are chill on the first day" Brawly informed the girl.

"Thanks" the girl mumbled and then shuffled away.

As soon as the threat was gone, Brawly turned to Stella and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Hey Stel, why don't we catch up some other time? I've really gotta get to class. See ya!" Brawly ran towards his classroom, leaving Stella in the dust.

She still felt the warmth of his hand on her shoulders and couldn't help but feel empty again. Brawly had Roxanne now, and it could have never worked out. Steven hated Brawly's father, Chris, with a passion after Chris banned Steven from working in the nearby cave.

…

Stella entered her homeroom class her eyes wide open and attentive. She had to be careful about her actions because cameras would be everywhere.

A group of girls in the corner of the classroom stood in a circle, snickering and gossiping to each other, occasionally taking glances at Stella. One girl suddenly detached herself from the group and approached Stella. She seemed to be the leader, as when she left, the whole pack followed behind her. Her hair was a turquoise green and her brown eyes were full of maliciousness. She was tall and skinny, and her facial features were what one would consider beautiful.

"So…you're Stella right? Congrats on making it in the school…if you know what I mean" She smirked and her friends giggled. Stella knew exactly what she meant. Almost no one had gotten into this prestigious school by merit, but rather with money or celebrity status.

"Yeah thank you. I'm sorry…I didn't catch your name?" Stella asked.

"I'm Sierra. My father owns the ferry company in Slateport" Sierra twirled her blue-green hair around her finger "Do you want to eat lunch with us today?"

"Yeah, that sounds cool. I'm up for it" Stella smiled. These weren't the girls she generally made friends with, but they would have to do for today.

…

Stella walked from the main hall into the courtyard to eat her lunch. Right before she could meet up with Sierra and her crew, she bumped right into another girl. It was the short girl from earlier, who had asked for directions.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry! Please, I will get napkins. Oh what have I done?" The tiny girl ran off towards the cafeteria searching for napkins while Stella stood there wide eyed. Stella had not received a single drop of food on her, but rather had spilled her entire lunch on the poor girl.

"Here. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." The girl took the napkin and began cleaning up the mess.

"Hey. It's okay. Dude, don't worry, it was totally my fault! I can't look at where I'm going. I'm just a giant klutz." Stella bent down and helped her pick up the spill.

But the girl just stared at her, almost trembling, her eyes filled with fear. Was she _scared _of Stella?


	3. Chapter 3

…

"This is Gardenia. She's going to eat lunch with us." Stella smiled at Sierra and the rest of her friend group.

"Ummmm. Sorry but we can't have that." Sierra frowned upon setting her eyes on Gardenia.

"Why not?"Stella was getting angry. She hated people like this, and had hoped that Sierra would be more forgiving.

"She's just not…you know…one of _us_" A girl with a long milotic-tail braid said.

"That's fine. Then I guess I'm not either. C'mon Gardenia, let's find another table. That one was full anyway" Stella grabbed Gardenia by her tiny wrist and dragged her across the dining hall to an empty table.

As soon as they were seated, Gardenia turned to Stella with huge deerling eyes.

"I thought they were your friends? You're a celebrity, what are you doing with a lowlife like me? You should have let me go. I would be fine by myself, really. I-" Gardenia couldn't finish her sentence because Stella had placed her hand over her mouth.

"You need to breathe!" Stella laughed, "Gardenia, just because I'm a celebrity doesn't mean I should be treated any different from you" Stella smiled, but then bitterly added "At least you know you got in based on your own merit…and not your parents' celebrity status"

"Thanks. But I shouldn't have come here. It's too overwhelming. So many personalities. I mean…two gym leaders are here! You're here! I have read all of 's books. Oh and Sandie Stone too! She's fascinating" Gardenia began searching her brain for more things she knew about Stella.

"Thanks. I'll tell my parents that. Maybe I can get you a signed copy when I go to Mossdeep?" Stella laughed again. Although, she was only half kidding. If Gardenia really wanted it, she would give her a signed copy no problem.

"So you live in downtown?" Stella had observed the apartment complexes in downtown, but she had wanted to explore Rustboro and the little odd shops it had.

"Nope. I live across the bridge" Gardenia suddenly took up interest in her food.

"Oh cool! What do your parents do?" Stella wasn't quite sure what the bridge was, and she was genuinely interested.

Gardenia dropped her fork and shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"They…"she started reluctantly "well… my dad is a pokemon breeder and my mom runs the nursery right across from Petalburg woods."

"You work at the nursery?! That's amazing! I've had flowers sent to me from my grandparents especially from your nursery. They are honestly the best" Stella grabbed Gardenia's hands. She could almost see the pretty flowers again. Normally, Stella wasn't a huge fan of flowers, but these had been so stunning that they had been engraved in her memory forever.

"Um. You could come visit if you like. I mean, it's my house, but above all it's a store." Gardenia felt a little bit of pride from Stella's latest comment.

Stella was about to add something else, but the bell rang and the girls headed to their respective classes.


	4. Chapter 4

...

Two weeks had passed since Stella's first day of school. It was still difficult for her to get used to the city. Back on Mossdeep, everything was so relaxed and easygoing. In Rustboro, Stella felt a sense of urgency on everything she did and a great restrictions of her freedoms. Just a week ago, Mari had kept her promise of signing Stella up for a girls' education class. It was a terrible class. Stella couldn't have her pokemon with her, and she had to wear uncomfortable debutante dresses. Mari, however, was thrilled.

"Stella dear, it's Monday. Get in your uniform and get ready for school." Mari sat on Stella's bedside. Her white bun was glistening in the light of the morning emanating from Stella's window.

Stella got ready in five minutes. Sandshrew had decided to come along with Stella at school today. It felt good for Stella to spend time with her pokemon.

Right before Stella left the building, she shouted in the empty hallways: "Grandmother! I don't have any special class or anything after school today right?"

"No dearest." Mari came down the red carpeted stairs to see Stella off.

Stella had decided to go over to the flower shop today to buy flowers and see what kind of life Gardenia lived.

…

Stella was waiting for the first period bell to ring, and was standing next to Roxanne.

"That's funny. I haven't seen Brawley all half of last week." Stella said suddenly.

"Yeah…he's got a gym leader's role in Dewford now. I don't know how much school he can go to" Roxanne said in a weak voice. It was clear she and Brawley were together. Roxanne would get so emotional every time someone brought up his name.

"But…Dewford is a ten minute boat ride from here. Surely he could keep it up like you do?" Stella asked.

"That's impossible." Roxanne snapped at Stella. And just as she was about to add something else, the bell rang and saved Stella from a tongue lashing.

…

During lunch Stella met up with Gardenia, as usual.

"Roxy snapped at me today. She got really defensive when I asked about Brawley" Stella recounted the story to her friend.

"Hm…well everyone around here's got some skeletons in their closet" Gardenia said it with a look that told Stella she knew a lot more than she was letting on.

"Can I reveal mine to you?" Stella didn't know what came over her, but she felt like spilling her secrets and starting fresh. Something she should have done two weeks ago.

"Um, well…if you're willing to. Of course. My lips are sealed." Gardenia looked up at Stella.

"Here goes" Stella took a huge breath "I used to have a thing for Brawley. It was mutual actually. But then I fell in love with Tate, you know the gym leader at Mossdeep. I promised I'd never forget him. But why do I feel myself drifting over to Brawley? Even though I know he and Roxanne are together?" Stella revealed only a small fraction of her life. But she felt a mass of weights just come right off her chest.

"But Chris and Steven don't like each other. I read it in your dad's book" Gardenia stared wide-eyed at her friend.

"This was before Chris and Steven. When my dad took me to Dewford island, and he was allowed to. They used to be on good terms, Chris and Dad. I don't know…Chris just suddenly snapped." Stella reminisced her time on the small Dewford island, only good for sand and evolutionary stones.

"Wait. When you said everyone here's got skeletons in their closet…Do you know them all?" Stella turned Gardenia.

"I don't know any of their secrets. But you know, being around these celebrities I realize just how much stuff they have that the media is not and cannot cover. I feel like this whole school is holding its breath" Gardenia turned her grass green eyes to Stella.

…

It was three hours after school got out, and Stella was at the Devon Corp having a snack with some scientists. She planned to go to Gardenia's soon.

"Sandshrew, you guys, stay good okay. I'll be back so we can train more this afternoon"

Stella ran out the door onto the cobblestone streets of Rustboro.

"Brawley!" Stella gasped as she ran right into him "what are you doing here?"

"I came here to see you" Brawley smiled "I missed you…"

Stella stood there shocked. Had she just heard him correctly?

"Let me rephrase that: I missed your grandfather's meeting on his newest technology" Brawley laughed.

"You're such a troll! I hate you!" Stella lashed out at him. She kept punching him in the chest, but that boy was made of concrete. All her efforts to harm him were in vain.

"Oh no you don't. I know you love me." Brawley smirked.

"Shut up." Stella crossed her arms and feigned being angry but she couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"Make me." Brawley's playful expression turned into a gaze full of lust.

Stella fumbled around for her words. She closed her eyes for a split second and saw Tate and Roxanne frowning, she saw her father shaking his head, and she saw Gardenia waiting forever for her to stop by the shop. When she opened her eyes she wasn't smiling anymore.

"Maybe next time, Brawley. I've got somewhere to be" Stella turned swiftly and made her way towards the bridge.

"Aw c'mon girl! I was just messing with you. What did I even say?" Brawley made attempts to stop her from running, but in the end he just let it go.

…


	5. Chapter 5

…

The little shop seemed empty and dark as Stella approached it. She wasn't quite sure she had gotten the right address. As she got nearer she saw lights inside and decided to go through the automatic sliding doors. So this _was _a shop. Immediately to her left, Stella noticed the checkout desk with a huge leafeon on top. The leafeon was sleeping, but the noise of the sliding door made it perk its head up.

"Wow. Easy now. I'm not a burglar." Stella placed her hands above her waist, showing that she was not armed.

"Hi! How may I help you?" A girl who looked like the older version of Gardenia, stepped out from behind a rack of flower pots.

"Oh. Hi. I'm Gardenia's friend, Stella." Stella turned uneasily towards the shop-keeper in fear of being attacked by the leafeon.

"Hmm. GARDENIA!" the girl shouted and Stella nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Rosie seriously, I can hear you from upstairs no need to be an exploud." Gardenia walked out of her room, her brown hair sticking up as if she had just awoken from a nap.

Rosie smirked and went back to tending the flowers with three treecko helping her.

Gardenia ran downstairs followed by a shroomish, a hoppip, and a male nidoran.

"Hey Stella." Gardenia greeted Stella. She was dressed in a white shirt and green overalls, barely any change from the blue school uniform.

"Hey Gardenia! Um…is that leafeon gonna hurt me?" Stella had been standing still since she had arrived in the little shop.

"Ha! Leafy? Hurt you?" Gardenia stopped to giggle for a little bit and continued, "nah, the only time you should be worried is if skeptile comes out. Then you know you're in trouble."

"Skeptile?" Stella gulped.

"Yeah. My mom's skeptile. He's really sweet, but just don't go around threatening us or his bad side will come out. Leafeon too chases robbers…but she's a bit lazier and older." Gardenia smiled, finishing her slick ponytatail. She then grabbed a red bandana with a white pokeball and placed it on her head.

"Isn't this a pokemon breeder outfit?" Stella had seen them before on TV.

"Yep. I'm training to be a pokemon breeder since Rosie's called the nursery." Gardenia gave Rosie a dirty look.

Rosie flashed a fake smile but then suddenly turned serious.

"I haven't introduced myself, how rude of me." Rosie stood up and walked towards Stella.

"Yeah, what good is an exploud's voice if you're not going to use it?" Gardenia jabbed at her sister.

Rosie shot her a look and continued, "I'm Rosie. Born of Tom and Delila Hawthorne. I'm 21 years old and I look after this nursery. Not to mention, I love raising treecko." Rosie extended her hand to Stella.

"Nice to meet you, Rosie. I'm Stella born of…Do I have to say it?" Stella asked.

"No." Gardenia said.

"Yes." Rosie smiled.

Both sisters shot each other venomous looks.

Neither had time to say anything as a noise from the woods caused the everyone in the shop to turn and look.

…


	6. Chapter 6

…

Rosie closed her mouth and backed up behind the rack of flower pots.

"On second thought..may-maybe we should wait for mom." Rosie was trembling.

"Rosie. What _was_ that noise?" Gardenia tried to peer into the woods, but the seven o'clock darkness had already sunken in, making impossible to see.

"I don't know. And honestly? I'd rather not know."

"Hmm. Well Team Aqua has been heading some pretty suspicious activity." Gardenia looked at her sister.

Unlike Rosie, Gardenia was full of curiosity and boldness.

"So what are you proposing we do?" Stella turned her sliver gaze onto her friend. Stella had seen a lot of things, and ominous noises in the forest would not stop her from investigating.

"Let's go check it out!" Gardenia pulled a coat from the coat hanger and handed it to Stella. "The woods get pretty cold out at night, best to take this."

"No! Where do you think you're going?! I'm locking up the shop and if that means we can't have any customers so be it!" Rosie said, jumping in front of the sliding doors.

"We'll take leafeon" Gardenia proposed. Leafeon didn't seem too thrilled. She had been pleasantly sleeping on the warm countertop, and was definitely not ready for any sort of adventure.

"Well. NO. I don't want to be left alone here." Rosie bit her lip.

"You have your treecko. And you have roselia and wingull." Gardenia wanted to get the discussion quickly over with.

"Fine." Rosie side-stepped from the moving doors.

"Let's head out!" Gardenia extended her hand and pointer finger towards the door. She took a confident step in direction of the exit only to collide with a person running at full throttle.

"Ow!" Gardenia and the man were both on the floor, holding their heads.

"Seems like they headbutted! Are you okay sir?" Stella asked the man who was wearing a brown trench coat and a grey felt hat.

"No! My briefcase with my top secret Devon Corp goods! It has been stolen!" and with that the man tried to bolt out the door, but was stopped by leafeon and Rosie.

"What? Who stole your briefcase? Let us help you. It's dangerous out there." Rosie grabbed the man's arm and sat him on a small stool.

He explained that he had gotten his briefcase stolen by three members of team Aqua. He had been carrying goods from Dewford Island that he was supposed to take to Rustboro. He explained that Steven Stone himself had given him the briefcase.

"And we've got to catch them now!" the man said frantically, eyeing the shop's exit.

"This does sound urgent" Stella tried to sound calm, but flashed an urgent look to her friend to tell her that this may just be extremely important.

Gardenia seemed to get the point as she came up immediately with a plan.

"Rosie. Stay here and guard in case robbers come by. Stella, this man, and I will go after team Aqua."

This time, Rosie did not argue. She let the trio through the sliding doors and locked up behind them.

…

The trio had combed the Petalburg woods for ten minutes in vain.

"Maybe they're already at Rustboro?" Stella suggested. She had heard of team Aqua before, they frequently visited Mossdeep and stirred lots of trouble.

"No, I don't think so. They were after my briefcase and they were trying to stop me from going there." Paul answered her.

"Let's go back to the shop and get some tea" Gardenia suggested.

The three of them trekked back from the depth of the dark woods until they reached the main road.

"It's them!" Paul shouted. Indeed, three men were conversing on the side of the main road.

"It's the wimp." One of them said.

"Ha and he brought his little girlfriends." The second one taunted.

"Give us back the briefcase!" Stella wanted to get this over with. She wanted to keep things clean and simple, so as to keep her famous name out of it.

"Or what?" One of them chuckled and approached the trio. It was the third member.

"I'll challenge you. Right here." Gardenia tilted her head back to make it seem like she was confident.

…

In a matter of seconds, the Team Aqua grunt and the young high school student were getting in position to battle.

"Poochyena!" the grunt called his pokemon.

"Go! Nidoran!" Gardenia unclipped her pokeball.

Although the autumn air was cold, the tension of the battle was starting to heat things up.

"Poochyena use tackle!" The grunt instructed to his little black and grey pokemon.

"Nidoran dodge it and use poison sting!" Gardenia's green eyes were calm and focused.

Nidoran skillfully dodged the tackle, and countered with a vicious poison sting.

The poochyena was hit quite dead center on the flank. It stumbled backwards, but refused to give up. Poison was starting to course its veins, but the poochyena showed its bravest face.

"Keep it up, buddy! Use bite!" The grunt pointed straight at nidoran.

"Nidoran! Counter with double kick!" Gardenia had not lost her focus.

The audience held their breaths as both pokemon charged towards each other. The air stood still as these two shadows in the darkness went at each other.

The impact was powerful. Although it was too hard to see in the dark of the night, it was quite clear both pokemon had been badly hurt. Poochyena tried to make one last stand, but with the poison taking its toll, the pokemon was stayed grounded. Nidoran picked himself up and waited for further instructions, trying not to show any signs of having been badly injured.

Suddenly, before any side could be declared the winner, shroomish came out of his pokeball.

"Shroomish no!" Gardenia frantically tried to call back her shroomish. Shroomish had a habit of being over-protective and rowdy. He would always defend Gardenia and his best friends, nidoran and hoppip. Not only did he love protecting, but he loved getting into fights and causing trouble. This time was no exception.

"Poochyena, return." The grunt returned his injured pokemon just in time before shroomish had a chance to headbutt it.

Gardenia sank to her knees in desperation.

"Hey punk. You may have won this one, but you certainly have no control over your pokemon. You can't be considered a true trainer until you show that you can properly raise 'em." The grunt approached Gardenia.

Before she had any time to respond, shroomish charged the grunt and head-butted him from behind.

"Ow! Dammit! See?!" If it hadn't been night, Gardenia would have been able to see the grunt's condescending glare.

"Return shroomish." Gardenia finally got him back in his pokeball.

…

"Here's your briefcase wimp." One of the team Aqua members handed Paul his briefcase.

"Thanks." Paul answered flatly.

"What was that all about? Why were they after the Devon Corp briefcase?" Stella asked.

"I don't know…" Gardenia wasn't thinking about that right now. The grunt's words were still swimming through her head. They stung her, knowing that she wants to become a pokemon breeder, yet she had no control over her own pokemon. Her lack of skills was apparent, and it made it seem like the battle had been won out of luck.

"Paul come back to the shop, it will be safe to get to Rustboro tomorrow morning." Gardenia told Paul. They always had an extra room for weary travelers who emerged from the Petalburg woods.

"Can I stay too? I'll call my grandparents." Stella said, dropping her bracelet on the ground.

"Sure." Paul and Gardenia made their way towards the little shop while Stella stayed behind to pick up her bracelet that she had lost somewhere in the dark.

"Where could it be?" Stella thought to herself as she pulled out her pocket flash light.

She suddenly heard rustling in the woods behind her.

"Wh-wh-who's there?" She shined her flashlight towards the woods, trembling. Suddenly she wasn't trembling anymore. She squinted hard and thought she saw spikey blue hair and an orange t-shirt running through the Petalburg woods, towards Petalburg. That combination oddly reminded Stella of Brawley.

What could Brawley possibly be doing here?

Stella couldn't be sure. She stared wide-eyed for a moment and then ran towards the little shop with the image burned in her memory.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning all of Rustboro was buzzing. Word had gotten out that there had been a battle on the outskirts of town and Stella Stone had been involved.

"All of Hoenn is watching you! No. Not all of Hoenn, the whole pokemon world is watching you!" Mari was flaming. She had brandished a bamboo stick and was hitting Stella's palms until deep cuts started to appear. "How many times have I told you not to do anything stupid?!" Mari fumed. "Will this be another episode like the one you had in seventh grade?"

The words cut Stella more than the bamboo lashings did. She vividly remembered the seventh grade fiasco, where she and Brawley had flooded Rustboro.

"Just five minutes ago, I got a call from the Slateport ship department asking if we could cancel our orders. They don't want bad press, you understand?" Mari had stopped hitting Stella.

"I understand, Grandmother." Stella muttered. Silver strands of hair were slipping out of her messy bun, covering her face.

…

"Are you okay?" Roxanne bent over the little silver-haired freshman.

"Hmm? Yeah I'm fine."

"All of Rustboro's been talking."

"Yeah tell me about it." Stella muttered sarcastically.

Why wasn't Gardenia at school yet? Was nidoran that badly hurt? Either way, Stella couldn't bear talking to Roxanne, especially not after what she saw last night.

"Hey Stel, hey Roxie." A husky voice came from behind her.

"Brawley!" Roxanne jumped into his muscular arms and hugged him tightly. Although Roxanne was showing him lots of affection, Stella could feel his eyes on her back. They should have been on Roxanne.

"Stel, what's up? I heard some news." Brawley almost shoved Roxanne off of him.

"Whatcha hear?" Stella turned around to face his ice blue eyes. They were so frosty that she couldn't really bear to look him straight in the eyes.

"Just…there was some brawl by the flower shop." Brawley showed no hint of fear or knowledge that she might have seen him there.

"Yeah. I was there. I was having tea with Gardenia." Stella said. "Don't trust the media though, I wasn't involved." It was partly true. She did not tell Brawley that she stepped out of the house and chased members of Team Aqua, she absolutely couldn't.

Brawley stood in thoughtful motionless for a split second which to Stella felt like an eternity.

"Hey Rox, wanna get us all a drink or something? Looks like it's been hard on Stella." Brawley turned and smiled to Roxanne, who happily obliged.

As soon as Roxanne was out of sight, Brawley sat behind Stella and wrapped his strong arms around her.

For a moment, Stella wanted to melt into them. She felt so familiar with Brawley, having spent a majority of her life with him.

"WOAH! What are you doing?!" Stella immediately jumped.

"Relax. I'm just comforting you, dude." Brawley seemed a little hurt, but mostly confused.

"Sorry it's just…" Stella had no way of telling him the honest truth, "it's just…you know I've already had a scandal, and people seeing us together could just lead to more trouble."

This was partly true. But she mostly was now afraid of Brawley. She was now convinced she had seen him. She was also afraid of Tate or Roxanne finding out, two friends who she held dearly on to.

"Yeah, you're totally right. I'm totally sorry, bro" Brawley put his hands up in defeat.

"Hey…this might seem random but…where the heck have you been these past two weeks?" Stella regretted it as soon as it came out of her mouth.

"Ha! You've been worried huh?" Brawley, however, did not seem to notice that her question had a goal. "Just been helpin' my dad on the small island. Hey Dewford ain't as mighty and good as Sootopolis or your hometown, Mossdeep." Brawley laughed good naturedly.

"Huh…yeah…" Stella laughed a short and sharp laugh.

Stella needed to get rid of her feelings for Brawley. Although he laughed it off most of the time, she knew he too could feel the tension between them. They had had a fling back a year ago, which wasn't much since Stella was still in eighth grade.

The two had been friends for so long, that they were starting to fall for each other, but Stella had to stop it. She had Tate, Brawley had Roxanne. Stella also knew that her father and grandparents would be angry if she dated Chris's son. Media would cover it, it would be an even bigger mess than the bitter court case that involved both their fathers. She could not lose control of her life like this.

…

Stella walked to the Devon Corp from school completely alone. Gardenia had not shown up all day. The tall brown building loomed ahead, cold and unwelcoming. Only her pokemon, who raced out of the building stuck a smile on her face. Her happiness was cut short when she saw her grandmother walk out with an emotionless face.

"I've decided to send back your pokemon" Mari stated.

"WHAT?" Stella quickly bent down and held her arms protectively over them.

"It's punishment for you. I've decided that there is no other way." Mari and her flaafy waited in the doorway for Stella to give them up.

"No wait…I need them for battle class. Do you want me to fail?" Hope began fluttering in Stella's heart.

"Fine. Only keep one" Mari said.

"I can't" Stella wrapped her arms tighter

"Then fail your class" Mari retorted

Stella looked at her friends. She could see all three had been miserable in Rustboro. There were no open spaces like there were in Mossdeep. The salty air did not exist either, even though Rustboro lined the coast. She had to make a choice. Sending them back would make them happier.

"Which of you guys is the most homesick?" Stella expected an immediate answer, but all three just shifted around slightly. It was clear they would rather be homesick than leave Stella.

Sandshrew had been Stella's first friend. He was a gift to her from Sandie, Stella's mother, for her eighth birthday. He would accompany her on archeological digs where Stella helped her mother. During one of those digs, Stella had found lileep's fossil. It wasn't until a couple of months ago that Stella had gotten beldum from her father. Her father worked closely with the breeders in between Verdanturff and Mauville to breed his world famous metagross.

"Your decision?" Mari was losing her patience.

"I'll keep sandshrew" Stella was going to write a note to her father to send beldum to the breeders where it could level up and train. She planned on giving lileep to her mother for a year, so lileep could help with the digs. Lileep loved the digs and Stella could tell that she was really missing them.

Stella returned both pokemon to their pokeballs and handed them to Mari. She was sad but she knew it had to be done.

…

It was about a month later, and Stella had not seen Brawley since she gave her pokemon to Mari. Today, however, she spotted him hanging near the pokemart.

"Hey Brawley, what's up?" Stella and Gardenia approached him.

Gardenia had been keeping tabs on Brawley's activity. She had seen him on the edges of the Petalburg woods several times, but curiously he had never shown up to school.

"Uh, nothing much actually. Hey bro, I really gotta get going. I'm going to Slateport and it would be a bummer to miss my bus." Brawley waved friendlily to the duo and jogged over to the bus stop.

"Why Slateport?" Gardenia asked, scrunching her nose.

"Why not? We're going there too!" Stella and Gardenia had planned their trip to Slateport a week earlier. Gardenia had never been, but Stella had been plently of times.

"Yeah…maybe he just wants to catch some waves" Gardenia was still not convinced of Brawley's motives. He had plenty of waves on Dewford.

…


	8. Chapter 8

Once in Slateport, the girls quickly ran to the beach. What a sight! The blue water was glistening in the crisp air, white boats dotted the vast open space.

"Last one to the water is a rotten egg!" Stella stripped herself of her clothes, revealing a cute pink and white bikini she had brought with her from Mossdeep.

In Mossdeep the water was way colder, but in the summer time residents greatly enjoyed the refreshing waves that lapped up in a shallow areas around the mangrove trees. Stella was almost always ready to go into the shallow waters around the island, and the bikini felt so comforting and familiar to her.

Gardenia on the other hand, had only ever swum in the lake that separates Rustboro from her home. She kept her shirt and waterproof shorts on, because she felt exposed to the great currents of the ocean.

"Gard, you're the last one in you totally owe me a soda from the beach shack." Stella splashed her friend lightly.

"Yeah well you're going to have to get that soda on your own, I'm practically broke!" Gardenia returned the splashes.

Sandshrew played on the beach, feeling right at home in his element: the sand. Shroomish, hoppip, and nidoran had made a point to explore the beach and learn from Sandshrew where all the best playing spots were.

"Gardenia! A staryu!" Stella stopped dawdling in the water and pointed a wild staryu floating near the surface. "I wanna catch it!"

"Sure thing. Hoppip! Please help us out here!" Gardenia beckoned to her hoppip. "Listen to everything Stella says for me okay? Sandshrew's not good with water, and being a grass-type, you'll be okay against this staryu."

"Wow you're awesome. Thanks guys" Stella looked at hoppip and smiled. She prepared her pokeballs.

"Now hoppip! Vine whip!"

Hoppip did as she was asked. The staryu flinched and hoppip took the opportunity to strike again. The staryu seemed to want to be caught for it did not retaliate.

"Pokeball go!" Stella threw the pokeball and crossed her fingers.

The pokeball stopped moving and started to sink to the bottom. In a flurry Stella dove after it.

"What are you going to tell Mari?" Gardenia asked Stella once both girls were back on shore. Stella was admiring her pokeball.

"Um. It's fair game if I caught it here. She wanted to punish me by taking away some of my best friends, but that doesn't mean I can't stop making new ones." Stella was unsure of what Mari would say, actually.

…

The afternoon was settling in on Slateport. The girls had decided to visit the famous open-air market.

"I'm sure I can bring this back to my mom! She loves herbal stuff like this" Gardenia picked up a jar of crushed seaweed powder.

"Yeah I'm sure of it! Your mom does work at a nursery after all" Stella looked at the small jars full of mysterious ingredients that were lined up on the seller's stand.

"Hey. Isn't that Brawley?" Gardenia put down the jar and squinted. She poked Stella repeatedly in the arm. Her grass-green eyes focused on the Shipwreck Museum right across the street.

"Ah yes, that young man who runs the Dewford gym?" the old vendor chuckled "he comes here quite often." She had a toothless smile, but it was full of happiness and affection for Brawley.

Stella had gotten sick of Brawley. She couldn't believe she once cared for him at all.

"Often?" Stella asked rhetorically.

Brawley had not much business in Slateport other than catching waves.

"Why yes. His father is very much in business with the people who run the cruise service here in Slateport." The seller informed the girls, not aware that Stella had been simply talking to herself.

"But what does this have to do with the Shipwreck Museum?" Stella asked.

"Ah, well I don't know about the museum, but he does pay frequent visits to the warehouse and the docks."

As far as Stella could remember, Brawley's family had not been one of sailors. They loved to fight and they loved island life, but sailing was definitely not their forte.

"Thanks for everything, m'am. We have to get going." Stella smiled widely and pulled Gardenia by the arm.

"Hey! I wanted to buy the crushed seaweed!" Gardenia protested.

"No time. We have to find out what Brawley's doing here. He hates museums and he can't sail for his life. There's definitely something magikarpy about this"

"You heard the woman, his dad's got some business here." Gardenia pouted.

"I know, so does my dad. Actually it's peculiar because my dad bought rights to that warehouse." Stella set her steely gaze onto Gardenia.

"And the cruise business?" Gardenia questioned.

"No. It's no cruise business. That's just a cover. They actually carry many valuable items that are used for the space missions happening in Mossdeep. Brawley's father has nothing to do with it."

Gardenia sat in thought, trying to process everything Stella had just said.

"Unless, this isn't for his father's business." Gardenia turned to her friend and smiled slyly.

"What do you mean? Who else would it be for? Himself? Brawley skips a lot of school, I highly doubt he's smart enough to run a space mission from Dewford." Stella reasoned.

"No. Look at the warehouse." Gardenia pointed to the warehouse.

Stella had been watching the museum, but she shifted her gaze towards the warehouse. Suddenly, two Team Aqua grunts scurried from the warehouse towards the museum. There they met Brawley.

"C'mon Brawley! Fight them!" Stella whispered to herself. She was praying that Brawley would stand up to them to disprove what she had seen the night they had helped Paul.

No. The situation had made it all clear. Brawley was conversing and exchanging information with them. What was he in this for? What did Team Aqua have that he wanted?

…


End file.
